Dubai Police warning to drivers travelling at over 200kph

Emirates Road and Sheikh Zayed Road the most dangerous.

DUBAI // A motorist was flashed by a police traffic camera driving at 217kph in a 70kph zone through the built-up residential area of Jumeirah Road.

That was just one of 760 incidents caught by traffic cameras and police officers of motorists driving in excess of 200kph, with 265kph being the fastest speed clocked by police.

Dubai police issued more speeding tickets to drivers for going faster than 200kph on Emirates Road than any other road, with 385 fines, said Maj Gen Mohammed Al Zafeen, head of the Federal Traffic Council. The speed limit for this motorway is 120kph.

“Our records show that the most dangerous roads are Emirates Road, Sheikh Zayed Road and the Dubai to Al Ain Road,” he said.

“More than 300 fines were issued on Emirates Road, and the fastest speed recorded was 254kph.

“We issued 187 fines on Sheikh Zayed Road, where a speed of 265kph was recorded; and we issued 62 fines on the Dubai to Al Ain Road where the fastest speed was 246kph.”

Other roads in Dubai where police were kept busy issuing fines to drivers going over 200kph included Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road with 42 fines, Al Khail Road with 25 fines, Al Qudra with 11 fines, Al Khawaneej with nine, Al Awir Road with seven and Meydan Road with five.

The fine for driving so fast is Dh1,000, and drivers will have 12 black points put on the licence and have their vehicle impounded for 30 days, although police are considering increasing this to 60 days.

“Crashing a vehicle at a speed of 220kph is equal to falling from the 63rd floor of a building – a fatal injury is almost certain,” said Gen Al Zafeen at the launch of the fourth annual Speeding Kills campaign.

“Most speed-related road accidents involve Emiratis, and most victims of all traffic incidents remain Emiratis, Indians and Pakistanis.

“Some people argue that speeding alone does not cause accidents, but there are always other factors that need to be taken into consideration, such as someone suddenly swerving or stopping on the road.

“The aim of this campaign is to reduce road fatalities to zero by the year 2020.”

According to the latest Dubai Police statistics, 151 people have been killed on the roads this year and there have been more than 2.2 million traffic offences.